Netherlands Bans Wild Animals in Their Circuses

The animals included in this ban are lions, tigers, bears, zebras, elephants, sea lions, primates, as well as giraffes. These former performing animals will now be able to live free of the notoriously terrible conditions present in circuses, such as cramped and unsanitary enclosures, and will no longer have to endure extensive travel or perform cruel and unnatural tricks.

While circuses and circus trainers of course do a convincing job of making it seem like animals involved in them actually enjoy performing for those who attend the shows, undercover footage as well as the techniques many trainers use have widely been documented and exposed to the public. The animals suffer high amounts of stress and torture in order for their trainers to have their compliance and servitude.

This news comes mainly as the result of the association of Dutch animal welfare organizations, Wilde Dieren de Tent Uit, as they have worked to get this ban in place for the last nine years, focusing specifically on wild animals. The same association is also offering to help find new homes for the animals that have been and will be released.